EP217
}} The Perfect Match! (Japanese: サトシＶＳカスミ！うずまきカップさいごのたたかい！！ VS ! The Final Battle in the !!), is the 217th episode in the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 27, 2001 and in the United States on November 2, 2002. Blurb Ash and Misty each emerge victorious from arduous bouts only to be paired against one another in the next round. As these two square off, Team Rocket plots to steal the tournament's prize using reverse psychology: they leave an anonymous tip with the local police force that the prize is in danger. This tip, Jessie reasons, will lead to heightened security, which will in turn lead to overconfidence and carelessness, effectually making it easier for Jessie and James to sneak in and claim their prize. With Ash already in strong position, Misty accidentally deploys Psyduck to face his Kingler. In a surprise turn, however, Psyduck launches a Confuse attack that wins the match for Misty. Ash takes his place in the stands and cheers for Misty as she begins her next round. Meanwhile Team Rocket watches in shock as—contrary to Jessie's plan—not only is the police presence at the event fortified, but the police show no sign of growing overconfident. Plot As the Whirl Cup matches continue, Officer Jenny alerts Sea Priestess to a threatening call that the Sea Spirit will be stolen. Maya, however, is unfazed and assures Officer Jenny that the Sea Spirit will be fine as watches from the shadows waiting to snatch the precious item. was keener to keep selling food, but Jessie reveals that she has planned an infallible aerial attack. With her reassurance, James and Meowth are instantly on board. and are ready for their two-on-two Whirl Cup match. Misty first calls out and Ash sends out . Ash starts things off by having Totodile use , but Poliwhirl dives underwater to evade it. Poliwhirl makes some swift movement through the water and it leaps high into the air to land a direct attack. Totodile is left dazed, but ducks to avoid Poliwhirl’s attack. Totodile retaliates with a which sends Poliwhirl backwards. Poliwhirl isn't finished yet as it kicks off a pillar and then does a high speed dive towards Totodile. Ash orders a Water Gun, but Poliwhirl evades and Double Slaps its opponent to claim the round. Ash recalls his fainted Totodile and sends out . Misty again commands Poliwhirl to unleash another Bubble, but Kingler dishes out a attack. Its claw strikes the water and an energy sphere is sent across the arena causing whirlpools to form. The energy hits Poliwhirl sending it tossing into the whirlpools and Kingler uses another Crabhammer attack, knocking Poliwhirl out. With this win, Ash feels sure enough luck is on his side. Misty then tries to call out but instead, comes out and immediately embarrasses itself and Misty by falling into the water. It nearly drowns before pulling itself onto the platform. Ash, happy about his sudden good fortune, tells Kingler to go up for a attack. Misty tries to command Psyduck, but it's too scared to do anything as Kingler speeds towards before clamping onto its head. Misty tells Psyduck to try and shake itself loose, but as Psyduck is panicking and flails about helplessly, Misty realizes that a headache is brewing. When Psyduck’s eyes begin to glow with energy, Ash realizes that he's made a serious tactical error and tells Kingler to throw Psyduck away. Using this to her advantage, Misty tells Psyduck to use . Psyduck summons an a surge of psychic energy which sends Kingler crashing right into Ash, knocking them both out, allowing Misty to win the match. Later that evening, Ash contacts to check on . Oak is instantly knocked out of the way by Bayleef as she pleads to return. Ash quickly sends off Kingler to the Professor, and when Bayleef returns she is overwhelmingly happy to see Ash again. A approaches the group and Brock instantly recognizes her from her clean sweep victory in the day’s sixth match. She introduces herself as Trinity and informs Misty that she’ll be her next opponent. The pair exchange handshakes and wish each other luck for the next round. The day of the round three Whirl Cup matches begins, where the top 16 will be whittled to the top 8 competitors. Misty calls out her Poliwhirl, and she is frightened when Trinity calls out her . Misty tells Poliwhirl to use Bubble, but Gyarados quickly charges up a that blasts the Bubble attack Poliwhirl out of the match. Misty remains confident and orders Corsola onto the field. At Trinity's command Gyarados uses , but Misty has Corsola sends it back with . Gyarados fires a Hyper Beam to send the torrent of water towards Corsola. Though Corsola dives down and the beam blows up behind it. Waiting a while, Misty finishes Gyarados off with . Trinity then sends out her . Trinity has Chinchou aim its at the sky. The electricity mizes with the clouds before firing down on Corsola. Corsola manages to defend itself with a Mirror Coat and sends the attack back at Chinchou. Chinchou, however appears unfazed, while Corsola is showings signs of exhaustion. Chinchou follows up with a , but Corsola dives underwater to avoid it. Chinchou dips its antennae into the water to use Confuse Ray again, and this time Corsola gets . With Corsola acting delirious, Chinchou finishes it off with a Water Gun. Misty is defeated, and Trinity moves on to the top 8. That evening, Trinity meets with the gang at the Center. Misty congratulates her and wishes her good luck for the next round. Trinity calls out her to go up against an opponent's in the finals of the Whirl Cup. Just before the battle begins however, Team Rocket shows up in . Jessie uses a fishing rod to snag the Sea Spirit staff but comes in and uses a to snap the line. Officer jenny realises the Rocket trio were behind the recent threat. The announcer brings everyone’s attention to the odd balloon in the sky, pausing the Whirl Cup momentarily. It's now a no-win situation for them, Ash and Misty send out Totodile and Poliwhirl, while Trinity's Golduck and her competitor’s Feraligatr all launch a combined Water Gun at the trio. Pikachu then finishes them off with . Maya is grateful for the Trainers’ efforts, and Misty stops Brock from flirting with the Sea Priestess. Misty calls out to Trinity to wish her luck, and competition match resumes. By evening, the six days of competition have drawn to a close and the award ceremony begins. Trinity's unnamed opponent is awarded the Mystic Water pendant, with Trinity winning second place. Maya once again raises her staff up towards the setting sun and it starts to glow. The next day, Trinity and the gang watch the Colosseum once again flood as they reminisce about the good times they had competing in the Whirl Cup. Major events * defeats in the second round of the Whirl Cup and advances to the third round. * Ash sends back to Professor Oak's Laboratory and returns to his team. * Misty is defeated by Trinity in the third round. * Trinity is defeated by an unknown Trainer in the final round of the Whirl Cup. Debuts Pokémon debuts Characters Humans * * * * Jessie * James * * Officer Jenny * * Trinity * Whirl Cup winner Pokémon Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * ( ) * (Trinity's) * (Trinity's) * (Trinity's) * ( 's; flashback) * ( 's; flashback) * (Trainer's) Trivia * This episode concludes the three-part Whirl Cup arc. * The scoreboard's appearance suggests that the Whirl Cup may have rounds that permit the use of up to three Pokémon. Had reached such a round, he would have had to either call up his or borrow one of 's Pokémon to fill in his roster with legal Pokémon. * James breaks the fourth wall in this episode. * lets the officials know that someone will steal the Sea Spirit Sapphire, presumably a throwback to Spinarak Attack, where they tried to mimic the Black Arachnid. Errors * In the English dub, 's is called during Ash's with Misty. * In the English dub, said that the move can only respond to attacks, even though it can respond attacks of all types. ** This is most likely to simplify the workings of Mirror Coat, as the qualities of Physical/Special were not touched upon in detail in the . In Generation II, all Water attacks were Special, and thus would be deflected by Mirror Coat, while ' was a (Physical) type, and would not be affected. This is further shown when Corsola deflects later in the episode, another attack which was Special at the time. * Also in the English dub, the announcer says that the winner of the third round match between Misty and Trinity would advance to the semi-finals, but the fourth round of a 64-member tournament would be the quarter-finals (64→32→16→8). * When Jessie's Wobbuffet comes out of its Poké Ball for the first time, it doesn't say its name correctly. Dub edits In other languages |zh_cmn= |de= |nl= |fr_eu= |he=הקרב המושלם |it= |pt_br= |pt_eu= |es_la= |es_eu= |pl= |hi=पर्फेक्ट मॅच }} 217 Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane Category:Episodes focusing on Misty de:Gute Freunde – heiße Rivalen! es:EP219 fr:EP217 ja:無印編第217話 zh:精灵宝可梦 第218集